For most people, Rajasthan’s dry landscape is a reminder of what nature cannot support. For Padma Shri Sundaram Verma, it became a challenge to prove what nature is capable of—if we understand it better.
Born in Danta village in Rajasthan’s Sikar district, Sundaram Verma grew up in a farming family where agriculture was a way of life. While he had the opportunity to pursue a secure teaching career after graduating in 1972, he chose to return to his fields instead. His curiosity about dryland farming led him to study scientific agricultural practices, and he became determined to solve one problem that had troubled farmers for generations—how to grow trees in a region where water itself is scarce.
In the mid-1980s, Sundaram observed something unusual. A sapling had survived long after the monsoon with almost no additional watering. Instead of dismissing it as chance, he spent nearly a decade experimenting with soil, rainfall and planting methods.
The result was a simple yet revolutionary technique.
Instead of watering plants every few days, he prepares the land before the monsoon so rainwater seeps deep into the soil. After the rains, he reploughs the field to reduce evaporation, plants the saplings in deep pits, and gives each one just one litre of water at the time of planting. The dry upper soil encourages the roots to grow deeper in search of naturally stored moisture, making the trees largely self-sustaining.
Using this method, Sundaram Verma has planted more than 60,000 trees in one of India’s driest regions.
But his contribution goes far beyond tree plantation. He has conserved over 700 indigenous seed varieties across 15 crops, promoted climate-resilient farming, trained farmers across India, and demonstrated that sustainable agriculture does not always require expensive technology—sometimes it simply requires observing nature more closely.
His work has earned him numerous honours, including the Padma Shri in 2020, recognition from the National Innovation Foundation, an Honorary Doctorate, and international appreciation for his contributions to sustainable agriculture and biodiversity conservation.
What makes Sundaram Verma’s journey extraordinary is not that he found a way to grow trees with very little water. It is that he refused to accept the belief that it couldn’t be done. By working with nature instead of against it, he transformed a simple observation into a solution that continues to inspire farmers, environmentalists and policymakers alike. Sometimes, the biggest breakthroughs don’t begin in laboratories—they begin in a field, with someone willing to ask a different question.
References
https://thebetterindia.com/466435/rajasthan-farmer-one-litre-water-method-sundaram-verma/
